I know you are supposed to taper off but I am not sure exactly how and my darn COBRA hasn't kicked in yet and I don't want to go to the doctor. My dosage is high and it is causing too many side effects - headaches and so on - and I want to see if I can go without meds for a change. Any good advice would be appreciated.
2007-02-28 14:16:07 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Mental Health
It is usually safe to cut the dose in 1/2 immediately without any problems. For instance, if you have been taking Paxil 60 mg daily for a while, first cut it to 30 mg. The ultra safe method with Paxil is to taper it off by 10 mg from there every week. So, 30 mg a day x 7 days, then 20 mg a day x 7 days then 10 mg a day x 7 days. You can always try to speed it up faster, but if you get discontinuation syndrome effects (flu like symptoms, electrical feeling in your head, tiredness, dizziness, etc. etc.) then go back up to the dose which you weren't having the symptoms on and wait a few more days. If you only have certain pill strengths, it is best to either get a prescription for smaller pill strengths (this is a generic medication now) or to try your best with cutting the Paxil into smaller and smaller pieces.
Paxil is well-known for having bad discontinuation effects. However, with a good and slow taper you can avoid this.
2007-02-28 14:29:17 · answer #1 · answered by rickined 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please listen to all the posters here....taper yourself off, do not stop suddenly. This is not the kind of drug where you can just go cold turkey. A few months ago, I ran out of my Paxil and it was a weekend so I didn't think it was that big a deal and that I could just wait till Monday to call my doctor for a refill. By Sunday, I was going out of my mind. I read up on it on the internet and realized that I wasn't just imagining it....most people going off of it feel severe withdrawals after two days of not taking any. The worst part was getting what felt like shock waves in my brain...like something was zapping in my brain. I was shaking and weeping for no reason and was extremely disoriented. I talked to my pharmacist and he said that coming off Paxil all at once has severe side effects...to the point that he gave me a couple of "loaner" pills to get me to the next day until he could call me doctor and authorize a full refill. So take it from my hell of an experience and taper yourself off. Since you don't want to go to your doctor, you can just ask any pharmacist and they'll tell you how to do this over the phone. Also, the other poster who said she tapered her daughter off gave a really good description of how to do it. Good luck.
2007-02-28 16:28:06 · answer #2 · answered by girlie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i took paxil for 2 months and it actually made me feel worse. i was stressed and depressed and this made me feel worse. i didn't like the side effects either, it made me feel like i was about to explode at any minute and my hands shook uncontrollably. i coludn't deal with it, so i called the doctor and he told me not to stop taking it that he would prescribe me a lower dosage. but i couldn't take it any more with the shaking hands, racing heart, and this feeling that i was mad at the world. so i just stopped one day, and let me tell you i felt soooo much better once i stopped taking those pills. you can try what someone else on here said, to take the pill everyother day and see how that makes you feel. or you can call your doc and ask him to lower the dosage. good luck to ya hope you feel better soon!
2007-02-28 14:31:14 · answer #3 · answered by missaboo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My daughter wasn't on a high dose, but I weaned her off of it by cutting dosage by 1/4 every few days. She was on 20mg. so I gave her 15mg. for several days, then 10 for several days, then 5, etc. I had to cut the pills in half to do this.
2007-02-28 14:25:53 · answer #4 · answered by TPhi 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I just came off of generic brand zoloft suddenly and i'm a pretty strong person, but it seriously sucks! At first you ache and have headaches, then you feel really dizzy and you have mood swings like...whoa. Not just mood swings i mean MOOOODDD SWWWIIINGGSSS. After about three weeks i could be just sitting there watching a tv show and feel like i could burst into tears for no reason, and then get pissed off at everyone. I really wouldn't advise it. you slowly lower your dose each week, but you should really consult your doctor. PLEASE, go to the doctor cause it REALLY sucks to go off it too quickly.
2007-02-28 14:25:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Okay, let me tell you from experience that to stop "right now" has its own highly undesirable side effects. You do need to taper and if you are having side effects you are going to need to lay it all out there with your doctor.
2007-02-28 14:24:11 · answer #6 · answered by ineeddonothing 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go very slowly tapering off. You can feel like flu symptoms for a week or so, it's nasty.
2007-02-28 14:20:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
My doctor told me to take a pill every other day. Then every 3 days, then every 4 days...and so on.
2007-02-28 14:19:28 · answer #8 · answered by RiverGirl 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋